Love's Philosophy
by MegTDJ
Summary: Missing scene for Space Race. Why was Daniel on the phone at the end of Space Race, and why did he hang up so quickly when Sam walked by? (DanJan)


Title: Love's Philosophy  
Status: Complete  
Author: MegTDJ  
Email: master@gateview.ca  
Category: Missing Scene; romance; humour  
Rating: PG  
Pairing: Daniel/Janet  
Spoilers: Missing scene for season 7's Space Race  
Archive: Gateview; Dan&Jan Archive; Fanfiction.net; anywhere else, please ask permission  
Feedback: Pretty please!   
Disclaimer: No copyright infringement is intended. I'm just a major fan of the show!  
Summary: Why was Daniel on the phone at the end of Space Race, and why did he hang up so quickly when Sam walked by?

Author's note: I _really_ enjoyed writing this fic! It's light and fluffy and warm-fuzzies enducing, and writing it helped me get through a very stressful couple of weeks. I hope everyone who reads it enjoys it, too! :)

It's basically my answer to the questions that were left running around in my brain after I watched Space Race - "Why was Daniel on the phone in that last scene? Why did he hang up so quickly? And why the heck did he stick his foot in that pool, and act like a kid through the whole episode?" My shippy little mind took over from there, and this was the result. ;)

Just a word about the title - "Love's Philosophy" is the name of the poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley that Daniel quotes from throughout the fic (sorry, Mr. Shelley, I hope you don't mind me borrowing your lovely poem for a little while!), and I kind of liked it as a name for the fic itself, as well. Sorry, Grizz! ;)

*Many thanks to Grizz for betaing (is that a word?); to my mom (aka Urgo), as always, for putting up with me and my shippiness (I'll convert you yet, just you wait and see! :P); and to the great crowd in the Our Stargate chatroom for helping me come up with the perfect poem (I couldn't have done it without you guys!!). :)

  


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**Love's Philosophy**

  
Three days and nights on an alien world. It's not like he'd never done it before, and he would most certainly be doing it again in the near future. Still, this time it had been different. All through the boring meetings and obligatory social functions of the first two days, all through the post-race festivities of the third day, and most especially during the three long nights spent alone in his fancy alien hotel room, Daniel had only one thing on his mind... Janet Fraiser.

His relationship with Janet was so new, so fresh and exciting and incredibly _right_ that he'd felt their separation keenly as soon as he'd stepped through the gate and found himself on Hebridan. From that moment on, he could not shake the vision of her beautiful face from his thoughts... not even for a moment. 

Not that he wanted to. It wasn't homesickness or melancholy that settled over him when he thought of Janet... quite the opposite, in fact. Knowing that she was back on Earth waiting for him gave him such a thrill of pleasure and contentment every time the thought crossed his mind that he spent the entire three days feeling, and even _acting_ on occasion, like a merry little schoolboy.

He doodled in the margin of his notes during the meetings, drawing arrow-pierced hearts and writing Janet's name over and over in fancy lettering and in as many foreign alphabets as he knew. He wandered around the alien facilities he visited with his hands in his pockets and his head in the clouds, examining with childlike curiosity any object that managed to catch his attention, and often eliciting a poke in the ribs or even a slap to the wrist from Jack when he would reach out to touch a button or object that would be wisest left untouched. He even dipped his toe several times in the water feature in Hagan's office building just to watch the ripples grow and spread across its entire surface, but was unfortunately interrupted by Hagan entering the room before he had the chance to work his way up to causing a full-blown tidal wave. To top it all off, he'd earned a swift, under-the-table kick in the shin from Jack during the post-race festivities. He'd started spouting poetry in the middle of the feast, reciting Shelley with such tenderness and heartfelt emotion as he pictured Janet's face in his mind's eye, that every female within earshot had tears in her eyes and an adoring, wistful look on her face by the time he was finished.

_"The fountains mingle with the river,  
And the rivers with the ocean,  
The winds of heaven mix forever  
With a sweet emotion;  
Nothing in the world is single;  
All things by law divine  
In one another's being mingle -  
Why not I with thine?_

See the mountains kiss high heaven  
And the waves clasp one another  
No sister flower would be forgiven  
If it disdained its brother;  
And sunlight clasps the earth,  
And the moonbeams kiss the sea;  
What are all these kissings worth  
If thou kiss not me?"

Oh yes, Daniel Jackson had it bad.

Which is precisely the reason why as soon as SG-1 returned to Earth, Daniel changed at record speed out of his off-world fatigues into those he wore around the base, and scurried off in search of a telephone. 'It had to be _this_ week she took off work,' he thought as he left the locker room. He didn't really mind, however. The fact that she wasn't working for the next few days could have its advantages, after all.

Not wanting to waste the precious moments it would take to get from the locker room to his office to use his own phone in privacy, he chose instead to risk eavesdroppers and onlookers by snatching up the receiver of the nearest phone he could find, which just happened to be hanging on the wall in one of the corridors along the way between the locker rooms and the briefing room. He quickly dialed the familiar number and tapped his toe in impatience as it began to ring.

"One..." he counted, wondering why it was taking hours to ring a second time, "two... three..."

"Hello?"

Daniel's heart soared at the sound he had been longing to hear for three whole days and nights. He felt a somewhat goofy grin spread across his face - something that had been happening quite frequently of late, he'd noticed - and his voice took on a tender, love-stricken tone as he answered, "Hey, Janet, it's me."

"Hi, Daniel. Welcome back."

His smile grew when he noted the warmth and pleasure in her voice as she spoke, but it faded a moment later as it sank in that she also sounded drowsy and far away. Hearing her soft sigh and a rustling sound in the background as though she was adjusting her sheets, he asked with a wave of guilt washing over him, "I'm sorry, did I wake you up?" A quick glance at his watch showed that it was barely 7am Colorado time, and it was Saturday of all days. 'Why didn't I _think_?' he chided himself.

"Don't worry about it, Daniel. I love waking up to the sound of your voice."

Daniel could have sworn her smile radiated through the telephone wire, sending a rush of warmth through his entire body from his head to his toes. A slow grin spread across his face as he playfully replied, "I'll remember that for future reference."

Janet chuckled then gave a contented yawn, and Daniel heard sheets rustling again as she shifted to a more comfortable position in the bed.

"I missed you," he said quietly, fingering the phone cord in an almost bashful manner.

He still wasn't quite used to baring his soul to this woman, telling her of his every thought and dream and emotion. It was all so new that sometimes he feared it was just too good to be real. Every time he went to open up to her he still felt momentarily shy and self-conscious. Without fail, however, the feeling would pass as soon as he would look into her understanding, love-filled eyes or hear her gentle voice returning confidence for confidence in the same hesitant-yet-hopeful way. 

"I missed you, too," Janet said, her voice soft and sweet. 

The moment he heard those earnestly spoken words, something wonderful happened in Daniel's heart. Where just a few moments before there had lingered slight traces of the fear of rejection and the doubt that love couldn't really come to him twice in a lifetime, suddenly there was nothing but peace, love, hope, and the confidence that their relationship was mutual and that it would last. 

She had been missing him as much as he had been missing her.

He breathed a contented sigh and leaned his back against the wall, enjoying the new sense of _home_ that was settling over him. After a moment of comfortable silence, he spoke again, quietly so as not to break the spell of the beautiful moment. "Listen, um... I've only got a minute here... we just got back a few minutes ago, and everyone else went to hit the showers before the debriefing, but uh... I just wanted to give you a quick call while I had the chance, to let you know we got back safe and sound." 

"And...?"

"And what?" he asked, puzzled at her response; yet for the first time since their relationship had begun, he wasn't afraid that he had said or would say the wrong thing.

"And... why else did you call?"

Daniel smiled, hearing the playful tone in her voice. Deciding to play along, he responded in a questioning tone, "Because I wanted to hear your voice?"

"And...?" she said again.

Daniel's smile grew into a grin. He glanced around to see if anyone was standing within earshot, and pressed himself further into the corner between the phone and the wall before replying. "And... to tell you that I love you, and that I'll be over later this afternoon to see you?"

"And... is that all?"

"Mmm... yeah, that's about it."

Janet laughed. "So you're not going to tell me the results of the race?"

"You mean that's all you care about?" Daniel said, pretending to be insulted. "The race? Not a thought for li'l ole me, pining away for you from halfway across the galaxy? Well, there goes this afternoon, then..."

"Daniel..."

"I'd even picked out the perfect poem to whisper into your ear by candlelight, but I guess now you don't want to hear it," he went on, pouting like a two-year-old.

Janet was laughing even harder by then. "Daniel!"

"Hey, I can take a hint. I know when I'm not wanted..."

"Oh, don't be such a baby."

Daniel smiled and almost laughed at this, but he was enjoying the "wounded" routine too much to give it up just yet. "Oh, so now I'm a 'baby', am I? That's it. I'm not talking to you anymore."

"Okay, okay... I'm sorry I called you a baby," Janet said, obviously trying hard to stop laughing.

"I don't care. I'm still not talking to you."

"Will you talk to me again if I told you that I love you, too?"

Daniel thrilled at the sultry tone that had suddenly entered her voice. "Mmmmaybe," he replied, still wanting to milk it for all it was worth.

"What about if I promised to cook your favourite meal tonight?"

Bingo. "Gourmet pasta?"

"Mmhmm."

"With some of those big, chunky meatballs cooked in your secret sauce?"

"Of course."

He paused for effect, not wanting to seem overly eager, and then he sighed in defeat. "Okay, I'll talk to you again."

Janet chuckled. "That sauce gets you every time, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, you're lucky you're such a good cook," Daniel teased, knowing all too well that she was right - he was a pushover when it came to Janet's cooking, and especially when it came to her 'secret sauce.' 

"Well...?" Janet prodded.

"Well what?"

"Daniel!!" she said in exasperation. "Did Sam win, or didn't she?"

"I love getting you going like this," Daniel said in amusement.

"Yeah, I've noticed. So tell me, already!"

"Well..." Daniel hesitated, not sure what to say in order to explain the events of the past three days as quickly as possible. "Technically, she didn't win, but she should have."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, the whole race was fixed... sabotage and everything."

"What?!"

"She sort of came in second place, though."

"Sort of? I sense there's a lot more to this story than you're telling me."

"Yes, there is, but... I have to go, so I'll tell you all about it over dinner, okay?"

Janet groaned. "Go? Already?"

"Yeah, I know," Daniel said regretfully, twisting the phone cord around his fingers. "I have to, or I'll be late for the debriefing."

"Would that really be such a bad thing?" Janet whined.

"Yes, it would," Daniel said with a laugh.

"Oh, alright," she gave in with a reluctant sigh. "I'm looking forward to hearing that poem you mentioned, though."

"I'll save that for after dinner," Daniel said in his most meaningful tone.

"I'll see you later, then," Janet said softly.

"Just as soon as I can get away."

"Good. I love you."

Daniel knew that he would never grow tired of hearing her say those words... nor of returning them. "I love you, too, Janet. Bye."

"Bye."

"Bye."

"Bye."

A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth at the absurdity of what they were doing. "Are you hanging up?" he asked.

"No... are you hanging up?"

"I hate being the first to hang up."

"So do I."

Daniel's smile had once again become a goofy grin. "Then I guess we have a problem."

"I guess so."

"We could do it together on the count of three?" he suggested.

"Yes, we could try that," Janet agreed.

"Okay. One... two... three..."

There was a slight pause; then Janet said, "You didn't hang up."

"Neither did you," Daniel pointed out.

Janet laughed. "Daniel, you really _are_ going to be late for your debriefing soon."

"Are you trying to get rid of me now?"

"No, I'm just trying to get you to be the first to hang up."

"Okay. I will. Goodbye, beautiful."

"Goodbye, handsome."

"Bye."

"Bye."

The game probably would have continued indefinitely if Sam hadn't chosen that moment to come waltzing down the corridor. "Hey!" she greeted heartily as she spied Daniel huddled as far into the corner between the phone and the wall as he could go.

Daniel quickly untangled his finger from the cord and hung up the receiver, feeling as though he'd just been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Concealing his embarrassment like the seasoned pro he was, he immediately switched his light-hearted, teasing mood onto Sam, all the while calculating how long it would be before he'd get his dinner.

_"See the mountains kiss high heaven  
And the waves clasp one another  
No sister flower would be forgiven  
If it disdained its brother;  
And sunlight clasps the earth,  
And the moonbeams kiss the sea;  
What are all these kissings worth  
If thou kiss not me?"_

She'd be putty in his hands.

  


THE END

  


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